bunnies. they apparently like to hide under cars while they're still warm and chew on the wiring in your car. it's a big problem at denver's international errant. drives say the damage can cost thousands of dollars. federal wild life workers say they're removing about 100 rabbits every month, but they keep multiplying. mechanics say fox or coyote urine makes a great bunny repellant. updating some of our top stories, oscar pistorius wept in court today as propers formally charged him with the premeditated murder of his fashion model girlfriend in south africa. also a meteor hits central russia with the force of an atom bomb sending out a shock wave that rattled building, injuring more than 1100 people. on this day in 1898, an explosion ripping through a u.s. battleship and put our nation on the path to war. it was a quiet night in havana

harbor where the uss maine was stationed while cuba fought for its independence from spain. as most of the crew was sound asleep, a huge blast tore right through the hull and sank that ship. hundreds of helpless sailors still inside. americans immediately blamed spain and within months, our troops were headed in battle. the spanish-american war. later investigators suggested that the coal on board spontaneously ignited and spain was not to blame. but a deadly blast helped shape its history 115 years ago today. that does it for this fox report on a friday. have a terrific weekend. i'm bill hemmer in tonight for shepard smith. we'll see you on monday. "the factor" starts now >> bill: "the o'reilly factor" is on. tonight -- >> it was really intense. just because nobody really knew what was going on. you could hear the screams of babies and mothers. i could hear them saying, remember i love you. remember i love you. >> it was bad.

it got worse. it wasn't a vacation anymore. it was like survival mode. >> bill: passengers telling horror stories about that stranded carnival cruise ship. now they're back on land. will they get their revenge? we'll have a factor investigation. >> this is not just a gun issue. it's also an issue of the kind of communities we're building. we all share responsibility as citizens to fix it. >> president obama heads back to his hometown of chicago to address the gun violence which has crippled that city. will his message make a difference? >> let us not be deceived. nixon, bush, obama, they're war criminals. >> and a huge rift among liberals as the president takes fire from his base over his controversial drone policy. we'll have a debate. caution. you're about to enter the no spin zone because the spin stops here. "the factor" begins right now.

>> hi. i'm juan williams in for bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us tonight. let's get right to our top story. the future of carnival cruise lines and the thousands of passengers who may be considering what the company owes them after their cruise from hell. the massive ship triumph 14 stories tall finally returned to port last night carrying more than 4,000 guests and crew members who have incredible stories to tell. they had been planning to go from galveston to cozumel, but ended up stranded at sea for five days with overflowing toilets, food shortages, and foul odors. an engine fire turned their dream vacation into nightmares. >> it was really rough. it was bad. it was like post-natural disaster, but stuck on a boat with 3200 other people. >> the sewage would spill over. so that was what became the

primary problem is this terrible odor and the sanitation was just out of control. >> on the floors, in the cafeteria! and you have to walk through it! it was disgusting! we tried not to eat. >> food is very sporadic. it's basically bread is what you get. and their sandwiches are maybe a thin slice of tomato with mayonnaise. by the time we get there. >> there is, i mean, sewage, water everywhere. mix that with some rotten food smells and welcome to carnival triumph. >> to make matters worse, one of the buses carrying passengers from the port in mobile, alabama to new orleans broke down, causing even more frustration for the exhausted guests. joining us now from miami, maritime attorney michael winkleman. and from dallas, jay hairing, who worked on the carnival triumph and al is the author of the book "the truth about cruise ships."

michael, let me begin with you and just say look, i don't think this is the way anybody wants to spend their vacation. this was a bad time. but i also say let's be honest about this. this was not katrina as some knuckle head suggested these folks that lived through katrina. nobody lost their lives. nobody is like dying from sickness from all the sewage. that's not the case. so the question is, exactly what was the injury? what's wrong if they stood in line for sandwiches and they had a longer vacation? so what's the injury? >> well, number one i wouldn't call it a longer vacation and to even think about calling that a vacation would be sort of silly. at least people that for an extra five days were forced to live in deplorable conditions that you just heard from and thankfully, it's not like the corsica concordia where 32 people died. you're hearing a lot of different versions of the stories. i don't dispute that the people that were in the captain's suite up top had a lot different experience than the people on the potty floor, the bottom two

levels where there was sewage all over the walls and all over the place. >> but you're saying that really, this was suffering. and i'm just wondering if in fact they might have been inconvenienced, but at most, that was it and yet you hear people talk about it as if it was this hellish experience. and i imagine that they're coming to you, michael, and saying, hey, get me some compensation. am i right? are people approaching you? >> absolutely. i've already spoken with numerous passengers aboard there. one, i've got an excellent analogy, this which can the costca con card i can't. when that happened, 32 people died. but carnival is the ultimate parent company of that. every person on that ship, even if they were uninjured, they were offered $14,000. so here that was a short period of time, shear terror. my law firm represents dozens of people in the concordia. the lawsuits are pending in italy. but here you had five days of just this disgusting, awful stories, living with sewage, overflowing toilets.

>> but michael, there is a huge difference between 32 people dying, the ship falling over on its side, the captain -- that's different. jay, let me come to you and say right now, what carnival is offering a is they're going to reimburse people for the cost of this cruise. they're offering a them another free cruise. they're giving them $500. i mean, do you think that, in fact, michael should be asking for millions for each of these passengers? >> you know, on a scale of 1 to 10, the corsica concordia was definitely 10. 32 people lost their lives. the ship sank. this incident i would say probably a 5 or 6. nobody was hurt. so i think the compensation that carnival offered is more than adequate. maybe could we bump it to $1,000 maybe? but i think given the circumstances, i think this is very fair. >> wait a second. hold on. let's go back the other side of this. these folks paid for a vacation. these are hard work people. this was their vacation time.

and they were basically stranded on this ship. they had no way to get off. that leads me to another question. why couldn't carnival fly somebody out there and fix the ship? what's the problem here? >> yeah. i mean, no question, they had a terrible time. i think that people who -- the passengers who are eager to sue find will be generally less happy in life than those who take this in stride. again, nobody was hurt. we talk about why didn't they just fly them out? we heard a report of the cruise director coming on and say they could not afford it. and i don't really -- maybe they said that, but i don't believe that was really the case. i mean, come on. carnival has deep pockets. we know they can afford it. i think maybe what happened was they were trying to keep the passengers from freaking out, from feeling like they were in danger. >> jay, you used to work on this very boat. am i right? >> yeah. >> in your experience, why wouldn't they just get these folks out? look, in reality, you have

people missing work. you have people feeling as if, hey, i'm stuck here. i can't get off. i'm in the middle of the ocean and no one is helping me. i'm claustrophobic. they should have been sensitive and done a better job. adds a former executive, i want to hear what you have to say about it. >> so there is no way -- the reason why they could not transfer them off the ship, the only way to do that, let's say here is your cruise ship. it's going to remain stationary. you're going to have this small little boat that's going to transfer between the vessels. well, let's say you have one to two foot waves. this boat will be bobbing up and down and you're going to have a gangway from this boat to the ship. again, remains stationary. young children, the elderly trying to walk across a gangway that's bobbing up and down? it could have been disastrous. people could fall in the water, get crushed between the two boats. the only safe option, unfortunately, was that they needed to stay on the boat until they could get it back to port. >> i just find this kind of thinking nuts. i got to tell you. this is what airlines say when

they stick you on that tarmac for eight hours and say, oh, we couldn't take you back to the terminal because we don't want to miss if they give us the authority to leave and it would have been such. but the reality is, you know what? as the individual passenger, you are being abused! i mean, you're a former executive on the cruise ship. you understand how people feel, that they're being taken advantage of? >> i can understand that feeling. you're analogy with the airplane, let's take that and put the airplane in the air. now there is no chance for you to get off that airplane. that's kind of what it is on the ship. there is no alternative. i mean, there is no safe alternative to get off that boat unless it's docked. >> all right. michael, did you intervene on behalf of the passengers while they were on board? were you able to put pressure on carnival and tell them to do something to fix the boat? >> no, i wasn't. i actually was working with them on several cases and had conversations about it. but sadly, my power is limited to that in a court of law.

but i think it's an important point, juan that, is they certainly had an option of going back to mexico and sending all those people back from mexico. they probably would have been there in a day or two instead of subjecting them to the five more days of this awfulness. i want to be clear, i don't think -- learn have a different case. i'm not saying anybody's case is worth a million dollars. what's important is it is a jury of your peers that decides ultimately what the damages should be. and it's my job to help them to do what particular get what is fair and reasonable under the law. >> no, no, no. look, you do your job. you represent your clients. but here is my question to the of two you, what happens to carnival? we know about the incident in italy. now we know about this one. the people who are quoted in the papers as experts on cruises say oh, carnival is a great cruise ship line. how can that be? what does that say about the entire industry? i'm not getting a cruise ship if they're telling me i can't come pack and if they're going to stick me out in these hellish conditions. michael, jay, tell me what's

going to go on now with carnival? >> i think honestly, pretty much nothing happens because i think number one, americans have a short-term memory or bad short-term memories. there has been a series of incidents and it goes away quickly. >> jay, what do you say? >> so in passengers that take cruises, there is a 95% approval rating on whether they enjoyed their cruise. so that's why you're going to see that this is not going to affect passenger bookings or overall -- >> come on, jay. i don't think they'll get 95% out of the folks that were stuck will in the gulf. do you? >> sure. this is a zero approval rating. but on most cruises, that smooth safely, that's what happens. >> this one will stick in a lot of minds. >> i agree with that. cruises are generally safe and generally enjoyable and affordable vacation. when bad things happen -- >> not this time, gentlemen. thanks for coming in, gentlemen. next on the rundown, president obama in chicago today addressing the gun violence

epidemic in his hometown. what took him so long? is it too little too late? and later, far left commentator cornell west accuses the president of being a war criminal because of his drone policy. wow. will the president lose his base over this? we'll have all the details when "the factor" returns.

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>> juan: in the impact segment tonight, liberal punish bit deaths in the main stream media have been relatively silent about president obama's controversial drone policy, compared to the outrage they displayed over the bush administration's use of enhanced interrogation techniques. but now far left professor cornell west is calling out president obama and using some very firey rhetoric to do it. >> the chickens are coming home to roost. we've been talk being this for a good while, the immorality of drones dropping bombs on innocent people, over 200

children so far. these are war crimes. i think we have to be honest. let us not be deceived. nixon, bush, obama, they're war criminals. >> juan: joining us now from washington, d.c., co-founder of code pink, an antiwar group that disrupted the senate hearings over c.i.a. nominee john brennan. a war criminal? really? >> i think we have to acknowledge that there are the killing of thousands of people, hundreds of them children that this drone policy is terrorizing entire populations. i was recently in pakistan and saw what it's like for people to be living under drones 24 hours a day and the fear that instills in people and that this has become the best recruiting tool for extremist organizations and is making us less safe here at home. so i think it's important to speak out and call for a change in the policy. >> slow down. wait a second. how is it making us less safe at

home to kill people who want to kill us? to kill terrorists? >> we can only identify 2% of the thousands of people we've killed, juan. every time we kill innocent people, we are creating new recruits for al-qaeda. people have told us that in pakistan, they've told us that in yemen. they said every time a drone strikes and kills an innocent person, ten, 20, 30 more people are going to join al-qaeda. now we see al-qaeda spreading not only in yemen, but in northern africa. >> juan: slow down. you know that people are not joining al-qaeda primarily because of drones. if you have people who are unemployed, destitute, angry at their own leadership, angry at the world. religious fanatic, okay. but that's just not true. and let me just say this to you, the congress has approved, given the president authority to go after terrorists and kill those terrorists. this is what the congress has asked our commander in chief to do. if you have an alternative and you're saying oh, you know what,

juan, send in the troops, let's talk about living in fear. if those people want to be in war ravaged countries with american troops on their doorstep as opposed to an occasional drone strike. so i don't understand why you would sit there and say, oh, you know what? this is causing terrorism for those people. we are fighting terrorism! >> we are using terrorism on innocent people and innocent communities. juan, i invite you to go with me to the tribal areas in pakistan and talk to people. when the pakinstani people say three out of four of them think the united states is their enemy, it's precisely because of those drone attacks. the same thing in yemen. we are causing people to join al-qaeda. talk to the young people in yemen. they say you are creating sympathy for al-qaeda with these drones coming out of the sky, buzzing around our neighborhoods, making people afraid to go to school, to weddings, to funerals, to

anywhere where they can congregate and be hit by drones. juan, you tell me, do you think a secret government program that is killing hundreds of innocent people is good for the security of the united states? >> juan: i don't know that it should be done in secret. i think it should be transparent. i have questions about making sure that the documents that authorize it are very clear and consistent. but let me just say this to you, why don't you go with me to afghanistan and we'll ask people about what it's like to live with the taliban? what it's like to live with al-qaeda. tearing down statues of religious icons, terrorizing women, making it unlivable for people who are trying to start a business. why don't we talk about that? instead, you want to blame the united states. i don't understand it. >> well, i've been to afghanistan many times, juan, and i'd be happy to go with you. i feel that after ten-plus years of occupation there, when we leave, the afghan people are going to be struggling themselves over who is in control of their government. we can't come in from the

outside and socially engineer other people's countries. what we have to do is protect ourselves here at home. >> juan: amany at protecting ourselves by killing terrorists and doing it strategically, surgically as opposed to launching a full scale war. but you don't seem to agree. >> that's just not true. we're creating more enemies than we're killing. we're violating international law and our own constitution, including americans overseas with absolutely no judicial process. that is shameful. >> juan: let's have an argument, but i don't see how you call the president a war criminal. thanks very much for coming in. and we are asking you to vote in our billoreilly.com poll. do you support presidential authority to use killer drones? yes or no? the poll is very close and bill will have the results on monday. directly ahead, president obama taking his gun control message to chicago today. will his remarks make a difference? also, an outrageous new report on medicaid says 2 billion of

your taxpayer dollars being used to treat illegal immigrants. we'll have the details moments away. he

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>> juan: in the factor follow-up segment tonight, as we've been reporting, the city of chicago has seen its murder rate explode in recent years. president obama has been outspoken about the massacres in tucson, aurora and newtown. but it wasn't until today that he really addressed the situation in his hometown. >> last year there were 443 murders with a firearm on the streets of this city. and 65 of those victims were 18 and under. so that's the equivalent of a newtown every four months.

for a lot of young boys and young men in particular, they don't see an example of fathers or grandfathers, uncles who are in a position to support families and be held up and respected. so that means that this is not just a gun issue. it's also an issue of the kinds of communities that we're building. >> juan: joining us now from albany, new york, reverend degraph, fox news contributor. and from chicago, radio talk show host matt mcgill. matt, let me begin with you. how is the president being received in chicago finally making remarks about the murder situation there? >> he's being received warmly. people have been calling for the president to come to chicago for quite a while. i don't think that it's overdue, but necessary. a lot of people in the community want to hear from somebody who

is the president of the united states and from their hometown. but as the president stated and i was glad he said it -- this is more than a gun issue. this is more than an issue about government and what government can do for the community. this is about what the community has to do for itself. first and foremost. and if that message resonates with people not only in chicago, but in other cities across the country that are suffering from the same type of youth violence that chicago is, then there is a strong message. this will make a difference. >> juan: matt, i just want to say amen. i think you're exactly right. what took the president so long? matt says he doesn't think it took -- i think it took way too long. the president in his hometown, to connect the dots and say when you have family breakdown, as we've seen in the black community, when you have 70% of black children born out of wedlock, when you see an absence of dads, he spoke about poor fatherhood in our community, in the black community, when he gave the state of the union. but he didn't connect it to the gun issue, in my mind, it's taken too long. judge so long?

>> well, i'm glad that he is here. i'm glad that he exacted it. but as matt said, it's really more than a gun issue, juan. i think that he has been addressing it in a variety of ways. it's time for him to come home. he came home. no president in the united states has ever stood before the american people and said, i wish i had a father. that's rivetting moment, juan, and a seminal moment in this discussion about the family. that's what i really think is the larger issue. how do we put our families back together? how do we provide hope to inner cities across the country? >> juan: that's right. but the thing is, you got to speak to the issue about some of the problems that lead young men to think that it's okay to shoot a little girl in a playground and gang and lack of fathers and the lack of structure in our community. you got to speak to it. that's what i'm saying. that's why i think it was --

>> juan, clearly it's time of the but juan, these other things that he's been doing, every day he shows up to work and carries himself and the way he carries himself and role models from the day he has been president, the way he loves his family and the way he -- >> juan: that's all great, jacques, but it didn't stop the girl from being shot. it hasn't stopped the high murder rate in chicago. and matt, let me come back to you on this point. jacques, let me come to matt on this. the president talks about doing away with assault rifles. most of these shootings, including pendleton, happened with a hand gun. so what is -- it doesn't seem that his prescriptions, when it comes to gun control, are going to do anything to stop the murders in chicago. >> but you know what, juan, guns are just a small part of it. i'm glad he kind of outlined that. we need to get people in the community to realize it's about family. when he talked about not having a father, that is the most important thing in our community. single parenthood has been killing the african-american

community for years, man. unless we address that head on, we're going to be lost. we're going to be relying on government to come in -- >> juan: i agree with you. amen! i wrote a book about it. i'm telling you, i'm so glad that the two of you are standing up because i think the president should have stood up more clearly for a long time and said, we got to do something about the problem in our community. gentlemen, thank you so much. i really appreciate it. you're speaking the truth. plenty more ahead as "the factor" moves along. a new report shows billions of dollars in taxpayer money going to health care for illegal immigrants. we hope you stay tuned for that important report.

>> juan: in the unresolved problem segment tonight, as america continues to drown itself in debt, a shocking new report by kaiser health news shows $2 billion of taxpayer money is being used every year to treat a group of emergency room patients comprised mostly of illegal immigrants. despite a federal law that bars medicaid from covering illegal immigrants, there is apparently a very costly loophole. with us now to discuss this report from fort worth, texas, immigration attorney francisco hernandez. and from washington, d.c., steven camerota, director of research for the center for immigration studies. steve, let me begin with you. what's the alternative here? people show up at the emergency

room and you're going to say, oh, you know what? your arm has fallen off. that's your problem. lady, you're pregnant? go out in the park lot and have the baby. are you willing to say if someone is an illegal immigrant, they show up at a hospital, you want them tossed? >> no, it's clearly we're build going to treat them. like if a kid shows up to school, we will educate them. you have to especially force your immigration laws and cause people to go home, otherwise this is what's going to happen. there is no middle ground here. you can't say, well, we'll let them here, but we won't give them education. well, won't pay for their health care. wrong. either you avoid the large scale settlement of millions of illegal immigrants by enforcing your law, and we could talk about how to do that, or you accept that these costs were going to come. there is no other alternative. >> juan: so you are suggesting then that we shouldn't let people come -- remember, we're not just talking about letting people come. we're talking about the fact you have 11 to 12 million illegal immigrants now in the country. so you're talking about a

population that's here, that's our neighbors. am i right? >> the way to avoid the cost is to enforce the law and encourage them to go home. you go after the employers who hire them. you have an electronic verification system -- >> juan: we're talk being that, but the reality is most people aren't leaving. that's not going to be self-deportation. francisco, from the other side of this argument, how do we get our money back from people who take advantage of the system, they're using taxpayer dollars and we never get a cent back! >> mr. williams, you've got to realize there is $2 billion, if it -- it didn't go to the undocumented aliens, it went to the public hospitals whose job is under the law to treat emergencies. it didn't go to them. it went back to the states for these folks. so it went back into the doctors and hospitals that is supposed to fund. but why isn't anybody throwing out a big alarm over the $7 billion proportion for that rusted wall we tried to build

and it fell apart? that's $7 billion we appropriated to supposedly control immigration. why don't we tell senator ruby and join him in his reform, i think mr. camerota supports, do you not? >> what senator rubio, the amnesty he's proposing? no. there is no question that will increase fiscal cost. though it might make the lives better of the immigrants and that's your reason. if you're concerned about taxpayers, illegal immigration costs them so much money because of the skills and education level of illegals. we think a majority haven't graduated high school. >> juan: we think that and -- aren't jobs that require high levels of education. francisco, i saw what you just said was so slippery. you said oh, you know ha this money goes to the hospitals. it goes to the doctors. >> it does. >> juan: hey, but you know what? it could go back to us, the american people could go back in the treasury -- n it goes back

to the federal government. do we want them to have it? of course we don't. >> juan: what? why wouldn't you want the government to have the money given the size of our deficit? i don't understand. why do you want to spend money on people who aren't american citizennings. >> we're talk being treating illegals they're bound by law to treat them. this is good friday. we're talk being babies. if we're talking about the larger issue that he wants to talk about, let's solve the issue. but just bad mouthing people and talking about what they supposedly cost, these folks lived here, they pay taxes and our social security system needs them contributing to yours and my retirement. >> juan: we agree. there has to be a smart thing. steve, you agree there has to be a better up. steve wants to emphasize enforcement. off different idea. gentlemen, thank you very much for coming in. >> thank you. >> juan: a baseball great enters the no spin zone and makes startling revelations about one of the most outrageous episodes in the history of the game.

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>> juan: thanks for staying with us. i'm juan williams in for bill o'reilly. in the personal story segment tonight, america's pastime, baseball. former mets catcher mike piazza entered the no spin zone earlier this week to talk to bill about the current state of the game and his new book "long shot" where he addresses his rivalry with yankees pitcher roger clemens and one of the most outrageous incidents in the history of the sport. >> in your book, you say you still hold a grudge. so let's roll the tape on it. >> the barrel of the bat comes back at roger clemens and he fires. the bat back towards piazza. >> that's a blatant act. foolish, foolish. man. >> i tell you, that is a blatant act right there.

>> the whole clemens thing is funny because i get asked about it a lot. >> still mad at him? >> no, actually i moved on. but he's a tough guy and you're a tough guy. >> you're competing. all right? >> absolutely. you're wired anyway. did he do anything out of the ordinary that you said hey, wait a minute, this isn't competition here? >> well, i think -- when i take it back in the historical perspective, the build-up in that game was so intense, i mean, because of the fact that he beaned me earlier in the season. it just -- i mean, it seemed like it was just a let out of steam and then again, it was the most bizarre incident because i joke in the book that i was actually saying, what if he hits me again? am i going to go get him? and i made a joke about training. >> you would have gone after him! >> absolutely. it was funny, after the game, my buddy goes, i didn't know that was going to happen. i mean, it was really a bizarre moment. it's kind of -- actually i moved on in a way. but i want to let people know that whether or not -- again, it

was a very interesting event in my career and i tried to address it at the time that i was there and i definitely moved on. i don't hold a grudge about it. >> if you were here, you guys who shake hands? >> i've seen him at a golf tournament. time does that. as you said, in the moment it was intense. but there was a lot of confusion. >> people don't understand that a guy like roger clemens throwing at your head can kill you. >> absolutely. i mentioned that. that's something that i was very fearful of. you look at the footage, it was at the last second, i was able to get my eye out of the way. so, you know, again, i guess i should also be somewhat blessed. >> you and the mets, after 9-11, you guys were magnificent because it happened on september 11, right in the middle of the baseball season. and the mets really, really did extraordinary things to help the families and things like that. when you think back upon that time, can you put it into words for us? >> it's tough for me to think back because i get very emotional. it was a fundamental shift in my

life, really. it allowed me to really focus on building a family and really what life is all about. >> you got more serious after that? >> absolutely. i mean, how could you not? you were here. you saw devastation and i mean, i think back at just devastation and the despair and the sadness and just how much prayer, how much faith really got me through that week. i think back now and it's almost like i want to repress it, but i need to also honor it. >> but you guys rallied. the whole team rallied. >> and it was hea any instructir blueprint. it was what can we do? and i was very proud of my organization. we just rolled up our sleeves and you'd be surprised how many people were just so happy to see us. and just talk. >> absolutely. >> when we started getting that feedback from the people, we felt like this is where we belong and we followed it through. we donated a day's pay, donated a lot of money and a lot of time

and just we were glad to chip in any way we could. >> right. that's why sports in america, if you can channel it into that helping people area. finally, this is the hardest question now. should i stay a mets fan? i've been a mets fan since 1962. outside of you guys, when piazza was playing, now i got a team -- i think i'm star in center field. >> you had good movement. >> that bullpen was so bad, they're going, hey, o'reilley. do i have to stay a met fan? >> you do, you do. because i realized that and i saw a bunch of great people today, being a mets fan is about faith. and. >> a loft despair. >> we just ride it out and keep going. >> all right. mike piazza, great book "long shot." thanks for coming in. >> juan: a quick reminder, you can catch bill o'reilly and

dennis miller on the bolder fresher tour. they'll northbound l.a. two weeks from tonight. if you want to see them, you have to move fast, though. the show is almost sold out. you can go to billoreilly.com for details. in a moment, the olympic blade runner oscar pistorius accused of murdering his beautiful girlfriend and today he breaks down in court. an update on the case after these messages hey, it's me, progressive insurance. you know, from our 4,000 television commercials. yep, there i am with flo. hoo-hoo! watch it! [chuckles] anyhoo, 3 million people switched to me last year, saving an average of $475. [sigh] it feels good to help people save... with great discounts like safe driver, multicar, and multipolicy. so call me today. you'll be glad you did. cannonbox! [splash!]

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>> juan: in the back of the book segment tonight, as you may know, olympic athlete oscar pistorius, a double amputee with a nickname blade runner, is accused of murdering his girlfriend on valentine's day. authorities say he gunned her down, a 30-year-old model, as the two argued in his south african home. he broke down in tears at a hearing in court this morning.

he could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted. joining us now from los angeles sportscaster and fox news analyst, jim gray, who interviewed pistorius at the london games last summer. jim, let me begin by simply saying to you, you met him. you spoke with him. what did you think? >> i was speaking to him at the height of his life. he said it was a moment that he would cherish forever. he had just completed the race. he finished last. but after so many years of trying and being thrown out by the iaaf if getting his appeal overturned by the arbitration court, being able to appear after not being able to appear in beijing and then on the track in london, he said it was the highlight of his life. he said he had cramps in his cheeks from smiling so much. he had felt he would have an impact on the entire world for the rest of his life because he was the first guy to be a double amputee to compete. so it was a special moment for him. so i saw him at the height of his life and it was only a four-minute interview. 3 1/2 minutes.

of course, he was respectful, courteous, on time. he was all those things that a guy in that position you would expect. but to say that i know him, i don't. it's adjust snapshot. >> juan: jim, you see lots of athletes in their moment. what strikes me here again is i think that tiger woods, i think of lance armstrong, now oscar pistorius. these folks are inspiring, especially to young people. they say to you literally in oscar's case, you can do anything. you know what? i was born with a congenital disease, i had legs amputated at 11 months. but i'm in the olympics. and now it comes down to this. charged with premeditated murder, jim. and i think to myself what, is with these athletes? why? what is going on? >> this is amazingly sad. we don't know all the circumstances yet. of course, we'll hear them as this case goes on.

but i think what happens is that these guys become invincible on the field. they do these incredible achievements, acts of excellence and with that, because they're so great on the field, it spills over to off the field where they think they're untouchable and infallible and indestructible. they do things that they think that either they're above the law or beyond reproach. we see it so many instances and so many times. obviously not all athletes and not all great superstars behave in this fashion or have these things happen, but we have a number of instances you and pointed to some of them. what makes them great on the field can be the lead in their decline off the field. but the public also has a role in this as well, juan, because the public has an appetite for these guys to be heros. so they want to build them up. they want to look up to them. because of that, they then think that they're beyond anything that anybody else on the planet is. >> juan: but jim, jim. hold on. no. jim, look, we want heros. i don't think there is any

question. i understand your point there, yeah. we want heros, but we want real heros. we don't want people who lie and cheat and kill. i don't know where that comes from. that's not us that says you got to lie, cheat and kill. you can compete -- >> absolutely, juan. but to put your faith in these people, tiger woods said at the end of when he made his apology, said i hope one day you can believe in me again. who believes in tiger woods? what leads a guy to think we believe in him for anything other than possibly he can hit a 5 iron better than anybody on the planet. so yes, the public does have a role in this because when these guys come crashing down, it's because they put them on a pedestal. they don't belong of the they're just great athletes. >> juan: hold on of the you're telling me that tiger woods didn't sell the imthat he was a family guy, he loved us wife and kids and that wasn't part of the image that made him the number one athlete in terms of endorsements around the world? i think he was selling that package pretty aggressively, jim. >> of course he was. and he allowed his advertisers

to do it. when he came crashing down, he wasn't any of those things that he had sold to us as being. so yes, of course he sold -- >> juan: i think that's a lie. that's what i think. >> but when he says -- >> juan: he lied to us and you say, well, the american people, we want heros. yeah, we want heros, but not liars and philanderers and murderers. >> juan, you're a brilliant man. why would you put your faith in any of these people other than to get entertainment and watch them achieve intense in sports? >> juan: that's a good point. you know what? actually it's taken me long time to separate the idea that great athletes do not have to be virtue with us individuals. i don't know what philosophy teacher gave me that idea. but you as a sportscaster, you're saying to me tonight, you know what? most of these guys, they're extremely flawed, although they are excellent when it comes to the field of play. and sometimes their passion boils over wean it comes to dealing with a loved one and in specific, the number of times

you hear about athletes abusing women, it's not short. >> i would say that's correct, except for i would eliminate one word you just used there. juan. it's not most. it's a few. there are some. and they paint the entire picture, the canvas like the rest of them are doing it. that's not fair. one stroke of the brush or for the acts of a few doesn't tarnish the whole. that's not what we're talking about. but some of these guys are way out of line. >> juan: you're right. thank you. on deck, an asteroid capable of destroying london flying shockingly close to earth. we'll bring you an update. and a ten-ton meteor explodes in the sky causing widespread panic. just 60 seconds away. stay with us but, dad, you've got... [ voice of dennis ] allstate. with accident forgiveness, they guarantee your rates won't go up just because of an accident. smart kid. [ voice of dennis ] indeed. are you in good hands?

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which says this sunday at 8:00 ♪ >> i'm so proud of my friend bill and i will definitely be watching. we have two very rare astronomical events to tell you about. while we were sleeping last night a 10-ton meteor exploded over russia. it hit the atmosphere at hypersonic speed and that sparked a huge sonic boom that shattered windows and injured